Royals Sign Christian Colon

The Royals officially signed fourth overall pick Christian Colon today and assigned the shortstop to their Carolina League affiliate. Colon receives a $2.75MM bonus, but no major league deal, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star (via Twitter). Keith Law reported the deal Wednesday on ESPN.com's draft Twitter feed.

The 21-year-old shortstop becomes the highest of this year's draft picks to reach an agreement so far. MLB.com's scouting report praises the Cal State Fullerton product's "outstanding makeup and leadership ability," along with his ability to play "above his tools."

Rival executives told ESPN.com's Buster Olney that Colon's skills could bring him to the major leagues by next year. After the draft, Colon told reporters that he is confident in his ability to play in the majors before long. The Scott Boras client said he's open to playing second base or short, depending on the Royals' preference.

To be fair, quality shortstops are so scarce that even being a major league regular shortstop is pretty decent upside, especially in a weak draft. Plus, one of their strengths of late has been spending big later in the draft, which a signing of this size can only help accommodate.

Not that I entirely disagree with you, but there’s an argument to be made.

Is this a joke lol?
First on the “perennial losers” comment, a team like the Yankees drafted somebody who was lucky to be in the top 100.

Second, Colon was hands down the best shortstop available at #4. SS is the Royals biggest need, with CF being number two. Unlike football, you can’t trade down picks to lets say, number 15 to pick him up there.

Third, the most likely possible choices there would have been LHPs Sale and Pomeranz. FYI, We have one of the best pitching farm systems in the majors, especially LHP-deep. While it is true, you can never have enough, it wasn’t one of our needs. Zack Cox at 3B wasn’t a need. Shortstop is.

Fourth, Colon is one of the most advanced players in the draft. Assuming no unexpected sebacks, he will be one of the first players of the draft to make the major leagues. The Royals don’t have any major league ready shortstop on the ML Roster, AAA roster, AA roster, A+ roster, A roster, rookie league roster, AZL or DSL rosters. It’s that simple. The best one is Mike Aviles, and he’s still under a year from tommy john and his arm simply isn’t ready to play short yet. Our most advanced prospect in our farm system, Jeff Bianchi SS, had Tommy John in March, and will be out all year.

You obviously know nothing about the Royals, the draft class, or drafting in general.

Who the Yankees picked is relevant to your little “losers” comment. You think the Royals were the only team to not draft “the best available player” once Machado and Taillon were gone?

This draft class was so weak that there is little difference between the 4th best available and the 50th best available player.

Next, you do draft on needs and you draft on when a guy will arrive. Those are two of the most important factors when drafting. If Yasmani Grandal were to be available when the Twins drafted, you think they would’ve taken him even though they have Joe Mauer and Wilson Ramos? Hell no. You draft depending on needs for your ballclub. This isn’t football.

And like I said, this wasn’t nearly a deep draft, and the talent from 4-50 were minor.

It’s not nonsense..That’s why some teams tend to go with college players who can make a quicker impact, like we’ve had the last two years, rather than waiting years.

Somebody like Alex Wimmers, Christan Colon, and Yasmani Grandal are nothing amazing at what they do. They won’t be Doc, Hanley, and Mauer. However, their player development is so large compared to others, they don’t have to spend years doing what Eric Hosmer is learning to do now: Pitch Recognition, Patience, and so on.

The same goes with somebody like Mike Leake. They are developed enough to not need to spend any time in the minors.

Maybe, but Lincecum isn’t a relevant discussion point because he’s so unusual. Pitchers with his height and such unusual deliveries need to prove themselves more. Lots of high school pitchers were drafted in the first round this year, even by teams that need pitching help in the majors ASAP, and lots of college closers that were supposed to move quickly have been drafted high by teams that had other much more pressing needs or much longer timetables on winning.

1) It wasn’t MY losers comment. I actually defended the Colon pick and the Royals. Try actually reading before you get snide with the wrong guy. My problem is with your logic, not the Royals.

2) The Grandal-Twins example is ludicrously extreme and you’re still wrong. First of all, a lot of people didn’t love Grandal. But if the Twins loved him, they might still draft him. You never know if Mauer will get injured or have to move positions within two or three years. Drafting the best player rather than the player who fits can give you great trade bait. The Twins have that in Ramos now. Remember when the Cardinals and Brewers drafted future first basemen in Wallace and LaPorta? Remember how that landed them Holliday and Fielder? Now name a position on the Royals where anyone is truly blocked. Gordon and Moustakas might both be off third base in a couple of years.

3) As for your comment on there being little difference between the fourth and fiftieth best players available… well, it’s a scouting director’s job to prove you wrong.

First, Moustakas already got moved from short to third and all signs point to him staying there. And Gordon already lost his 3B job. He’s an outfielder now.

Second, it doesn’t take a scouting director to prove me wrong. Anyone will tell you, this isn’t a top-talent draft. No college pitcher was projected to be a #1. Pomeranz was ranked as a #2 or #3 at best with good upside but nothing amazing. Somebody like Crow, who we got at #12 in 09, is projected higher than him.

Third, unless the talent is extreme, like it would be with Strasburg or Harper, or even Taillon, positions generally start to fall off for teams.
Not all teams draft the same, but it’s ridiculous to say you don’t draft on needs, advancement, and signabiity. Someone like Colon can be here next year while someone like Taillon might not be here for another 3 years. Now given the top 3 players amazing talent compared to everyone else, that’s obvious to choose them. However, past that, it could’ve been Grandal, Pomeranz, Sale, Cox, McGuire, Wimmers, Harvey, Colon, even O Connor, and some other names. It wasn’t a deep draft at all, which is a good thing, especially for the top 3 pickers, and also a bad thing.

Not sure how anyone can call Colon and a bad pick [and I understand you didn’t]

A lot of people think Moustakas is destined for outfield. I’m not talking about the move he already made.

Also, my point about the talent in this draft is not that it wasn’t weak. My point is that a scouting director should still have very strong opinions about those densely packed 47 players after the top three. It’s not like looking at a diner menu, assuming all the dishes will be of roughly the same quality, and saying, “Well, I guess all things being equal, I’ll have a reuben.” Or in this case a shortstop. They had months to sample all the dishes, and even if none of them were high cuisine, they had to like one best, and if that dish happens to be the reuben, that’s awesome. But they can’t just look at a draft, say only three players are great, and then throw their hands up and just go for the college shortstop. Because an awful lot of people seem to think he’s a second baseman and not all that great. Those people might be wrong. But if you’re the Royals, you don’t just take him because of what need you think he abstractly fits.

It’s possible that Moustakas moves to left, but I don’t see that happening. Never know though.

Next, you’re misinterpreting what I said.
Once you’re at pick #4 this year, there is no top talent that stands out above anybody else. They all have their upsides, they all have their downsides. They don’t throw their hands up in the air, but once you realize that nobody is an “obvious” choice to make, like it was with the top three, you select a player based on your teams needs. One of this teams many needs was a good athletic shortstop as soon as possible. There is no free agent signing that stands out, and we’re getting nowhere with Yuniesky. Another one would be for a solid catcher. Grandal nor Colon were exactly top 4 talent, but based on needs and signability, and the fact that there is no one who stands out on top of them immensley, they were the best choices.

If the team desperately needed a shortstop, and James Taillon was available, you bet your ass they would’ve drafted Taillon because he is top talent. When there is no one who stands out available, you draft based on what you need and when you can have it.

As I said below, a modest-budget team that’s not very good needs stars during their affordable years more than it needs any position. I can understand thinking Colon is better than the other options, but shortstop being the scarcest or second scarcest position trumps need for me.

We’re a team thats more advanced than somebody like the pirates. We have Billy Butler, Zack Greinke, and Joakim Soria to build around. Any future success is hanging on players like Mike Montgomery, Eric Hosmer, and Mike Moustakas, as well as the current guys like Alex Gordon and Luke Hochevar.

But it seems like we agree — if there were a star player available, then we would’ve most likely drafted him. There were none. There is no point of drafting a Zack Cox if management believes that Moustakas can be up here in a year playing third base. Just like we’re stuck with Ka’aihue in the minors because 1B or DH is not a position of need this year, and that’s all he can play. Yet we have not one shortstop who anyone projects to even make the majors playing right now. We drafted Moustakas as a shortstop with the hopes he can remain there — he didn’t. That’s a huge risk with drafting high school players. We’re moving Gordon to the OF not (only) because he’s not much of a good 3B, but because with Callapso now, and Moustakas in the future, there is no room for him like there, but there is in the outfield.

Dayton Moore and JJ have stated that they will keep Colon at shortstop. It’s a position of need right now. The latter rounds are more for best available players, back-ups, and so on. This year, even though we both agree you can never have too many pitchers, drafted about 30 or something college pitchers. They just didn’t go in the first round. We drafted another shortstop early on along with Colon. The first round is to meet our needs. We’re hoping to have Crow and Colon up in the majors next year. If Gordon adapts well to LF, thats one less position we have to worry about. Hopefully Wil Myers is able to take care of catching in the future. We have a whole range of college and high school drafted players who have to make up the future of this team.

I know that. But no one thought he would be a third baseman for more than a year or two at most in the majors. Scouts nicknamed him The Walrus before he was even drafted because his lower body was so big. He could never have the range or quickness to be a third baseman for long. That’s why Oakland traded him (they also had Barton and Chris Carter) and why no one was surprised that Toronto moved him immediately. For what it’s worth, first base on his college team was occupied–with Ike Davis.

I know that. But no one thought he would be a third baseman for more than a year or two at most in the majors. Scouts nicknamed him The Walrus before he was even drafted because his lower body was so big. He could never have the range or quickness to be a third baseman for long. That’s why Oakland traded him (they also had Barton and Chris Carter) and why no one was surprised that Toronto moved him immediately. For what it’s worth, first base on his college team was occupied–with Ike Davis.

Drafting for need and drafting for need if all else is equal are not the same thing. Obviously if you’re the Twins and you can’t decide between a catcher and a third baseman, you take the third baseman. But so much can happen by the time a guy is ready that it’s hard anyway. What if Colon takes three years to be ready, and is limited to second base by then, and then in the same time, someone comes out of left field to be a solid young everyday second baseman for them. Suddenly it turns out to not be a need anymore.

Right, but that’s why you scout them, to figure out what’s most likely to happen. I see what you’re saying, and I certainly agree that need being a heavy influence is a bad idea. This draft’s distribution and Colon’s advanced expected timetable, though, moves it up the list.

Drafting close to ready lower ceiling talent has been one of the Royals weaknesses over the past decade at least. The Royals and teams in their situation need to take the most high ceiling talent they can grab. So be it if they spend 1-2 more seasons in the minors. At least they aren’t in the majors eating up service time on a 90-100 loss team.

A far as need/ability based drafting. I know the Expos were an ability/availability based organization during the 90s.

The Royals have also had bad luck in their drafts. Alex Gordon can’t seem to stay on the field.

I’d say a team like the Royals is in a great place to draft young high ceiling talent. Not that i what they should draft exclusively. It doesn’t make much sense to draft guy who only project as regulars or deep rotation starters. The way the Twins built and the Braves built were to draft solid top to bottom…but they went after +A projectable talent….guys with All-Star potential. By all means, Alex Gordon should be everything that Billy Butler is.

It’s great to develope talent from within the system, but some of that must be game-changing talent. Easier said than done, but it’s the scouting department’s job to do this. The Twins have proven that it can be done.

Drafting close to ready lower ceiling talent has been one of the Royals weaknesses over the past decade at least. The Royals and teams in their situation need to take the most high ceiling talent they can grab. So be it if they spend 1-2 more seasons in the minors. At least they aren’t in the majors eating up service time on a 90-100 loss team.

A far as need/ability based drafting. I know the Expos were an ability/availability based organization during the 90s.

Won’t post any more on that interesting thread above. I’ll just add that one of the reasons he was drafted is that he is viewed to be ‘near-major-league-ready’ and as Bannister pointed out there is a crop of players maturing in the Royals’ minor league system. It makes perfect sense to draft a player for a position you need when you’re going to have three or four pitchers, a 1B, 3B, and a couple of outfielders (Lough in particular) all appearing on the scene at the same time. Now add to that a SS/2B.

It’s yet to be proven, but I think that DM is very good at drafting players, evaluating young talent, and picking guys that will be within the Royals organization for a long time. The major league level has been nothing but a stop-gap effort for a few years…but the rest of baseball will get some indication of what to expect, I think starting next year.

It’s yet to be proven, but I think that DM is very good at drafting players, evaluating young talent, and picking guys that will be within the Royals organization for a long time. The major league level has been nothing but a stop-gap effort for a few years…but the rest of baseball will get some indication of what to expect, I think starting next year.

The Twins rebuilding took many years and many good drafts/trades to accumulate young talent, and now they are contenders year in and year out. That process started in 1994, when Terry Ryan was hired as GM. They didn’t have an above .500 year until 2000, I believe. We’ve seen what the young talent is doing in the minors, and Moore is only on year 4. Have patience, Royals fans. Good things are coming!

The Twins rebuilding took many years and many good drafts/trades to accumulate young talent, and now they are contenders year in and year out. That process started in 1994, when Terry Ryan was hired as GM. They didn’t have an above .500 year until 2000, I believe. We’ve seen what the young talent is doing in the minors, and Moore is only on year 4. Have patience, Royals fans. Good things are coming!

Bannister, thank you so much for all of the hard work that you do educating yourself, and us, on the current status of the Royals. And, yes, I am very serious. When a poster that is faithful to another organization attempts to bash on the Royals and what they are doing, you calmly and rationally break down their “logic” and send ’em packing. I love the Royals, but I have neither the time nor the inclination to be as “up” on what is going on within the entire organization as you are. So, thank you. Keep up the good work.